A-Life BC Travel Blog

A couple hundred others had the same idea as us: we arrived at the end of a line about five minutes before the market opened. We paid the $5 entry fee and let our noses lead us to the closest stalls for a warm drink. The smell of waffles and pretzels taunted us as we walked, trying to decide on the best baked snack.

Food and drink in hand, we wandered through the aromatic pine trees and sparkling ornaments, inspecting nutcrackers of various sizes and hanging wooden toys, whose legs and arms waved quickly at the finest touch of their pull cord. My favourites were the round Christmas scenes attached to small helicopter blades that spun with the heat of candles strategically placed underneath. The tiny figurines moved round and round until the candles finally burned out - hours of quiet entertainment.  

There also was a large carousel; in fact, it's downtown Vancouver’s only Christmas carousel. Kids were having the time of their lives as they travelled in circles, and I'm pretty sure the parents who were securely holding their little ones on the animals were having a good time, too.

The Vancouver Christmas Market is open every day this week until December 24. The warm holiday atmosphere and delicious goodies are sure to get you in the holiday spirit. There are a number of parking lots nearby, or you can take public transit. Translink's Trip Planner can organize your transportation to downtown from anywhere in Vancouver.